A basic forge. That workshop for Sellen. Maybe one for himself, split between something like pottery and his work on gemstones. All that on top of refurbishing those old ruins, expanding the cabins, and possibly replacing some of the woodwork with stone. The island was already pretty isolated by nature but getting a real perimeter going with more defenses beyond those marionettes wouldn’t hurt.

From their short battle and few conversations together, Nepheli wasn’t the kind he could see stabbing someone in the back or doing wrong to someone who did right by her, something their draconic inhabitant agreed with. But she shared a bit about the tarnished Nepheli was aligned with.

This All Knowing guy didn’t sound like the type to just let the status of a Great Rune be left in the air.

Between this world’s equivalent to clay, something he was easily able to get ahold of with their location, and all the material a bit of help from a giant set of wings was bringing back, all that was possible.

It was just a matter of time and effort.

“Are you sure you’re not doing too much work?”  Onyx opened his eyes as a hand brushed aside part of his hair. Makeshift guitar set aside and back against one of the many trees at the rear of the island, Irina was focusing her gentle touch on his face. He didn’t intend on taking too many breaks but made exceptions after a bit good bit of progress and she wasn’t busy herself.

“I’m good.” He assured her. All he was doing was testing the materials to be sure all the stone would set the way he intended and working on a foundation for that workshop and forge. What some would call the hard part hadn’t even started.

“But you fought a demigod.” He wouldn’t have called what he did a fight. “You should at least consider getting sleep.”

“I was being literal when I told you sleep is just a luxury for me. With my magic I don’t need it. These breaks-“ He reached up, brushing away some of the strands hanging in front of her blindfold before fully relaxing his head back down in her lap. “-give me something to look forward to between all of it.”

Even if her face reddened a bit, Irina still easily embarrassed by things like that, it didn’t do away with her frown completely. Whatever it was she kept on her mind, she let it pass for the time being, relaxing along with him.

“Sellen mentioned your magic being different than hers.” Irina after a minute of whistling winds. “Is it not sorcery?”

“Not really.” He said, not surprised to be getting the question from her. She’d been spending a good portion of her time studying all the theoretical stuff beneath Sellen’s eye. “It’s something unique to me.”

“I see…so you wouldn’t be able to teach any of it to another person?”

“I didn’t say that.” Now that was a bit more, not surprising, but intriguing? He sat up, pressing himself against the tree beside her, their shoulders touching.

“Then, you could teach me?”

“I could but it wouldn’t be like reading through a book or sharing some routines to follow. A lot of physical training and mental conditioning goes into it.” Onyx shared. If that were all he might’ve agreed to her request without a second thought. “And worst of all, it isn’t particularly fair or entirely predictable either. You could do everything right, be at your peak condition, and the process could still kill you.”

“The power I use doesn’t come without risk. You should think about whether or not it’s worth taking.” He finished. Irina’s frown had returned by then, especially deep by the end.

“You…you took that kind of risk?”

“It was do or die for me. There wasn’t a choice to be made; at least that’s what I thought at the time.” He knew the ins and outs of his soul and mana so he knew exactly how it would affect his body even in one that started without it. That hadn’t always been the case though.

Every soul was different. He could try to gauge them, but he’d learned long ago that there was no tried and true way to prepare for what those differences might mean.

“Even if you decide to risk it, while I won’t try and stop you, you’ll have to figure it out without me.” He said, looking up beyond some of the shifting greenery above and up at the clear skies above. The possibility of her picking it up on her own, and just about every other person here with how deeply entrenched they were in drawing power from elsewhere, ensured that any progress would be all but impossible.  “Just consider it me being selfish.”

Irina moved, her head laid fully against his shoulder. “You should be more selfish about your life too.”

The ironic retort drew a small chuckle from him.

XOXO

A crude hammer and chisel in hand, Edgar stepped back, wiping sweat from his brow. Onyx nodded approvingly at the neat stacks of broken up stone the man was building up, each one baring drawn out marks when he broken them.

Just as he did when it came to carpentry, Edgar’s trained patience and strength lent him to the more menial portions involved with stonework, though he suspected he might build a preference for this. Similarities aside, when it came to building with stone, even if he could just break it down by hand if the need arose, it was better to consider things from a permanent angle and future proof things.

That meant drawing up blueprints and very specific instructions for Edgar rather than the same lax learning by doing approach they’d used for their woodwork. And Edgar had no problem following clear instructions from shaping the stones they’d be using them, preparing the mortar, laying the stone, and everything in between.

The carpentry experience was definitely helping though.

“I’ll bring up the rest.” Onyx said. Edgar nodded, only giving himself a small break before he got back to it.

“I-I’ll come.” Boc squeaked out, quick to jump up and follow. He tried with the stonework, but he just didn’t have the strength for it to be all that effective. At his own insistence Onyx put him to work with preparing the mortar instead but besides a few tests and the foundations they’d laid out, they were still in the preparation phase so there wasn’t much work to be done there until the time came to actually lay everything.

Boc quietly followed behind him, the two of them heading down the rear of the island and out onto the stones were basketfuls of stone awaited.

He strapped the first to his back, then grabbed a second. Balancing the one raised arm, he moved to grab a third only to find himself raising a brow and waiting as Boc tried to pull at its straps.

Far too small to wear something like that, he must’ve thought he could drag it by its straps but was failing miserably.  He got it to budge just a bit but that only resulted in it beginning to tip over.

Hand held out, Onyx stopped it from falling onto Boc and steadied it back down in the sand.

“I-I’m sorry Lord Onyx.”

“Nothing to be sorry for.” He assured him, picking up that basket himself and beginning to head back up to Edgar.

“Wait!” Onyx turned back, Boc wincing from the volume of his own voice as his eyes fell. “I…I must ask you. Why did you gift me that sword?”

“Should I not have?” Boc stuttered and stopped short, struggling to find whatever he thought was the right response so Onyx spared him the trouble and pushed on. “I’m just messing with you. If you want a real reason, I suppose it had to do with confidence.”

Boc shifted his head, the small hat he kept on, sliding slightly. “Confidence?” He repeated as he fixed it back into place.

“I could tell you wanted to do something. The sword was just a way to get you to act, that’s it. I wasn’t trying to tell you to do anything specific if that’s what you’re worried about.” Onyx admitted. “I’d say it worked.”

That training he was doing with Edgar might not have given him the strength that other demihumans had but he had more stamina to him. And he took it upon himself to try lifting something he wouldn’t have tried at first.

“But gifts between friends don’t always come with a reason. If you look too deeply into anything you get from me in the future you might end up setting yourself up for disappointment.” He turned away, heading up the incline. “Now let’s get a move on. Plenty to be done if you want to keep helping.”

“Y-Yes, Lord Onyx!”

XOXO

Wiping dirt off on his pants, Onyx backed away from yet another set of slim trenches he was digging out in the lower slopes of the island just before the ground turned to sand. Pulling himself up to a seat along the trench, he grabbed some of the papers he left laid on his fur cloak and began drawing out more of what he had in mind for the island. How much of this he got done himself depended on how long Marika was asleep and the things that would follow but Edgar had just enough experience to handle certain things on his own with clear planning to follow.

The forge and workshop would be coming first alongside a perimeter. After that he wasn’t sure what he’d prioritize. Maybe the ruins and an actual storage room. Then-

“Still hard at work, I see.” Looking up, he found Sellen emerging from the forest, coming from the rear coast rather than the heart of the island.

“Gave up on getting more information?”

“Tsk, that Lansseax can be as frustrating as you.”

“Lansseax?”

“The dragon’s name.” Sellen clarified, his mind already connecting those dots before he could take back the question. “You mean to say you’ve been flying about on her and now wield power she gifted you but couldn’t be bothered to ask her name?”

“I guess it’s been slipping my mind every time I see her.”

“Oh? You find conversations with her so interesting?” Sellen stopped beside him, a half teasing smile in place. “Planning to pursue a being of legend, my apprentice?”

“Planning is giving me too much credit. I don’t usually plan much of anything.”

She raised a brow. “Are these blueprints not the definition of a plan?”

“True but you all sleep here. I can make a little exception to be sure it’s as comfortable and safe as possible.” He said, stopping his drawing to look it over. Some proper pencils and the like would be useful, but it was coming out well enough. “Buildings are usually only as good as the planning that went into them.”

Unless he was using magic, but his mana wasn’t quite ready, nor did he have the materials for something like that.

Sellen hummed, looking over to examine the drawing. As she leaned back, her hand patted his shoulder. “Come along, apprentice. A bath would do you some good before you get back to your work and I just so happened to went through the pain of preparing a fresh one.” He looked over his shoulder, watching her walk back the way she came. She glanced back, that playful smile of hers bigger. “Or shall that effort go to waste?”

Shaking his head, he set the stack of blueprints back down, stone used to keep it down in place before following her.

What exactly did she have in mind?

XOXO

(A/N: Writing for this story is feeling as easy as it did when I first started. I think I'm starting to figure out what kind of writer I am. I genuinely don't know how webnovelists with 100s of chapters for the same thing daily do it. I lowkey need a break from that specific world I'm writing at the very least, and writing itself at the worst, around the time I reach the 100k mark. Honestly wouldn't be surprised if, after I reach the 200k mark on this, I put in on a hiatus again.

Its not like its writer's block, stress, or even a lack of motivation. I don't really know how to describe it honestly. But I guess that's just creative work for you. For me anyways; the same thing seems to be happening to my RWBY story. Hard to sit myself down to write for that and anything else based in its world now that I poured so many hours and words into it consistently.

My desire to explore different kinds of stories expressing itself? Who knows. I'm going to try again to update it this week but if I can't overcome this forming pattern, I'm not even sugar coating it, that story is 100% going on a hiatus. Might as well already have been on one if we're being honest. 

Twice is a coincidence though. If that feeling really pops up for this again when I reach 200k I guess we'll all have enough evidence to call it reliable a pattern with me and I'll start planning my stories around that so I can reach a solid stopping point every time.

Thanks for listening to my yap ses. I'll see you all in the next one this time for real.